Communications being exchanged within a wireless communication network can be prioritized, especially when traffic levels become heavy. When multiple Wireless Communication Devices (WCDs) are exchanging communications within a wireless communication network, communications latency can increase. As a result, some communications may be given a higher priority than other communications. For example, data communications for a particular WCD are typically given a lower priority than voice communications for that particular WCD. Wireless communication providers typically give priority to voice communications, as subscribers expect voice communications to be transmitted without delay. As a result, during times of heavy traffic, data communications may be delayed, including being significantly and noticeably delayed in some instances.
The Long Term Evolution (LTE) communication protocol provides a Quality-of-Service (QoS) for a given communication application by selecting an appropriate communication bearer as given by a QoS Class Identifier (QCI) value. Each bearer has its own QCI. The QCI value is a scalar value that denotes a specific packet-forwarding behavior to be provided by the selected communication bearer. QCI values can be used for congestion control, for example, wherein the communications traffic of some users can be affected in order to provide better communications for other users.
The QCI value of an associated LTE or Voice over LTE (VoLTE) bearer determines how the communication bearer is scheduled. The QCI value specifies communication characteristics such as resource types, priority levels, packet delay budgets, and packet error loss rates. The QCI value therefore determines the bandwidth, priority, and other resources to be provided to a communication bearer.
Each QCI value is associated with specific communication levels or types. For example, a QCI value of 1 is associated with conversational voice communications. A QCI value of 2 is associated with conversational video (live streaming). A QCI value of 3 is associated with non-conversational video (buffered streaming). A QCI value of 8 is associated with TCP-based data communications (www, e-mail, chat, FTP, P2P, et cetera).
However, where a particular WCD is exchanging both voice and data communications, it is desired that the data communications not significantly lag behind the voice communications. Such lag occurs where prioritization of communications in the wireless communication network is done purely on the basis of voice communications being prioritized over data communications.
Overview
An Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) communication system and method configured to schedule transfers of first and second user communications between the OFDM communication system and a Wireless Communication Device (WCD) are provided. The OFDM communication system in one example includes an OFDM scheduling system configured to process Quality-of-Service Class Identifiers (QCIs) for the first and second user communications to determine if the first user communication having a first QCI can be scheduled subsequently and if the second user communication having a second QCI can be scheduled in place of the first user communication by re-allocating an OFDM Resource Block (RB) from the first user communication to the second user communication, and if the first user communication can be scheduled subsequently and if the second user communication should be scheduled in place of the first user communication, then schedule the second user communication in place of the first user communication. The OFDM communication system in one example includes an OFDM transceiver coupled to the OFDM scheduling system and configured to wirelessly transfer the second user communication in place of the first user communication between the OFDM communication system and the WCD based on the scheduling.